The Amnesiac Sovereign

Chapter 21: The Truth and the Lie

Silence.

The battlefield became deathly still.

The fractured sky.

The fortress.

The armies.

Everything seemed frozen.

Only Darius' words continued echoing inside Ethan's mind.

"The person Kael wanted to warn you about... was himself."

For several moments, nobody moved.

Then Kael laughed.

A weak laugh.

But a genuine one.

"Hahaha..."

Blood stained his lips.

Yet amusement still flickered in his eyes.

Darius frowned.

"You find this funny?"

Kael looked up from his chains.

"Very."

The Seventh General's expression darkened.

Kael continued laughing.

Even Aurelius looked confused.

Eventually, the imprisoned general calmed himself.

Then he looked directly at Ethan.

"See?"

"What?" Ethan asked.

Kael smiled.

"He's still terrible at lying."

The battlefield erupted with tension.

Darius' golden eyes narrowed.

"Careful."

Kael shrugged as much as his chains allowed.

"What are you going to do?"

A pause.

Then he grinned.

"Capture me harder?"

Even Selene nearly smiled.

Somehow, despite being imprisoned and tortured, Kael still found opportunities to annoy people.

Darius sighed.

A disappointed sigh.

"Five thousand years."

He shook his head.

"And you're still insufferable."

The prison image flickered.

Kael's expression gradually became serious.

The joking disappeared.

His gaze locked onto Ethan.

Then he spoke.

"Listen carefully."

Darius immediately raised a hand.

The image distorted.

A wave of energy struck the prison.

Kael grimaced in pain.

Yet somehow he continued.

"Don't trust easy answers."

The battlefield became silent.

"Especially from people who only tell half the truth."

Those words weren't directed solely at Darius.

Ethan noticed that immediately.

Aurelius noticed too.

So did Selene.

Darius laughed softly.

"There."

He pointed toward Kael.

"Look at him."

His voice echoed across the wasteland.

"The great Kael."

"The clever one."

"The explorer."

"The loyal friend."

His smile widened.

"Do you know what he was doing before the betrayal?"

Kael's expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Ethan saw it.

For the first time—

Unease.

Darius immediately noticed.

And smiled.

"There it is."

The Seventh General slowly walked along the fortress wall.

Like a hunter circling wounded prey.

"You never told him, did you?"

Kael remained silent.

Darius laughed.

"You really didn't."

The battlefield grew colder.

Then Darius turned toward Ethan.

"Five thousand years before the betrayal..."

He pointed toward Kael.

"...he found something."

The words immediately captured Ethan's attention.

Because the Celestial Emperor had said something similar.

Something had been discovered.

Something important.

Something dangerous.

Darius continued.

"A door."

A memory flickered inside Ethan's mind.

A vast chamber.

Ancient symbols.

A sealed gateway.

Then darkness.

The fragment reacted violently.

The vision vanished.

Darius saw Ethan's reaction.

His smile deepened.

"Yes."

"You remember pieces."

Kael closed his eyes.

The chains around him rattled softly.

Darius pointed toward him again.

"That door changed everything."

Silence.

Then Ethan asked the obvious question.

"What was behind it?"

For the first time, Darius hesitated.

Just briefly.

Then he answered.

"We never found out."

The answer surprised everyone.

Even Kael looked slightly confused.

Darius continued.

"Because your loyal general sealed it."

The battlefield became quiet once more.

Kael finally spoke.

"I sealed it because it should never be opened."

Darius laughed.

"And there it is."

He spread his arms dramatically.

"The same excuse."

The Seventh General's eyes burned with frustration.

Real frustration.

Not performance.

Not manipulation.

Something genuine.

"You made the choice for all of us."

His voice hardened.

"You decided what everyone else was allowed to know."

Kael met his gaze.

"And I would do it again."

The answer landed like thunder.

The armies remained silent.

The wind stopped.

Even the fractured sky seemed still.

Then Darius smiled.

A dangerous smile.

"Exactly."

He looked toward Ethan.

"There."

"That's the real Kael."

Not a betrayer.

Not a victim.

Not a hero.

A man willing to make impossible decisions.

Whether others agreed with them or not.

The image of Kael flickered again.

This time more violently.

The prison's barriers were failing.

Or perhaps Darius was losing patience.

Either way, time was running out.

Ethan looked at Kael.

Then at Darius.

Then back again.

One was clearly hiding something.

The other was clearly manipulating something.

The problem was determining which was worse.

Suddenly—

A pulse erupted from Ethan's soul.

The second fragment reacted.

A memory surfaced.

Brief.

Incomplete.

Yet important.

Kael standing before a gigantic door.

His expression filled with horror.

Not greed.

Not ambition.

Horror.

The vision vanished immediately.

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

That reaction wasn't fake.

Whatever Kael found behind that door...

It terrified him.

Then Darius spoke again.

And this time his voice carried killing intent.

"Enough."

The battlefield trembled.

Thousands of soldiers immediately drew weapons.

The atmosphere shifted from negotiation to war.

Darius pointed toward Ethan.

"Come."

His golden eyes gleamed.

"Take one step forward."

The fortress formations activated.

The sky darkened.

Ancient weapons emerged from hidden towers.

Everything had been prepared.

Everything had been planned.

The trap was finally revealing itself.

Then Darius smiled.

And delivered one final piece of information.

A piece that made even the Shadow Queen pale.

"The third fragment isn't inside Kael."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Darius pointed toward the sky.

Toward the center of the fortress.

Toward something hidden.

Then he said:

"It's already awakening."

At that exact moment—

A pillar of golden light exploded from deep within the fortress.

The Third Fragment had awakened.

And everyone on the battlefield felt it.

Including Ethan.

Including Kael.

And including something ancient sleeping beneath the Shattered Expanse.

Something that immediately opened its eyes.